As part of the Federal Reserve’s wide scope of responsibility and oversight, the eight regional branches are tasked with monitoring residential and commercial real estate markets; tracking trends and data in order to more accurately adjust to market fluctuations affecting the economy. These studies provide hard data for the Fed to make economic adjustments, but they can also be a great gauge for real estate investors. Any successful investor will tell you that the ability to forecast changes in the real estate cycle is vital. As much as knowing your market and asset class, an awareness of other economic factors is important for mitigating investment risk.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta serves as the central bank’s regional authority for the southeast. It tracks real estate markets for the region, including Florida and offers comparisons on a national scale. Our guest this week is a commercial real estate expert with the Fed’s Atlanta branch.

Brian Bailey is a Senior Technical Expert in the Supervision and Regulation Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Specializing in commercial real estate, Brian tracks and analyzes emerging trends in the southeastern region and provides thought leadership on commercial real estate and guidance for the central bank.

Brian brings a diverse background in commercial real estate finance and acquisitions to the Fed. He has over 15 years of experience in commercial real estate finance, having managed financing for millions of square feet in real estate holdings for several large-scale equity and development firms. Brian received an MBA with concentrations in Real Estate and Finance from the University of Florida and has earned a CCIM designation.

You won’t want to miss this commercial real estate outlook on Florida!

Tracking Investment Market Data

Finding a real estate market that fits your investment goals seems to be getting tougher and tougher. With markets tightening up across the state, investors are starting to feel it. Now, more than ever, investors need to be tracking investment market data – looking for trends and analyzing data to find viable markets.

Investors may be familiar with Yardi for property management services, but did you know they also offer comprehensive market research and data software? This system allows real estate investors to track investment market data on a national level, or zero-in on specific markets and sub-markets.

This episode, we welcome from Yardi Matrix: Senior analyst and editorial contributor, Chris Nebenzahl, and research and data analyst, Doug Ressler.They discuss what investors need to know about tracking investment market data. They also offer up an update on Florida’s commercial and multifamily markets.

Motivation: it’s something every one needs. Whether it’s a financial drive or a spiritual one, everyone needs something that keeps them focused and real estate investors are no different.

Setting investment goals is something that every investor does. But sometimes as investors, we find ourselves setting unrealistic investment goals or goals that may reap immediate rewards but lack long-term gain. Sometimes it can seem overwhelming trying to set manageable, realistic investment goals that can actually be leveraged into cashflow.

Investor, author and real estate investing mentor, Rod Khleif, believes in the power of actionable investment goals. By setting goals for himself that not only inspired him to become a successful real estate investor, they also empowered him to forge his path.

Rod was introduced to real estate investing early on. He managed to find success fairly quickly and, by 2006, had acquired thousands of properties across the U.S., including 800 in Florida.

Following the market crash however, Rod lost everything. Instead of accepting defeat, Rod took that as a learning opportunity. He realized that, while his investment goals had been earning him income, they did not lay the foundation for a successful, long-term cashflow strategy. Rod re-tooled his approach and, by aligning his investment strategy with philanthropic efforts, was able to form actionable, empowering investment goals.

Tax Credits

They sound nice, but real estate investors may think that they are not so easy to come by. Those investors who do happen upon them find usually find themselves bogged down by the IRS’ strict stipulations surrounding them.

Tax credits are, in fact, tools set in place to help investors grow their portfolios and while they may seem complex, they are accessible to any investor willing to do a little extra leg work.

While nobody should be expected to know the entire IRS tax code, real estate investors should be aware of some very helpful tax credits that can be applied to their assets.

For real estate investors, it’s all about the bottom line. Investors are always looking at how they can save on costs and expand their cash-flow. While many real estate investors might be aware of certain tax-breaks that can be taken advantage of for investment properties, deferring taxes through cost segregation may be one that investors overlook. Institutional investors are probably aware of this tax advantage, but smaller, individual investors or those just starting out in real estate investing may be unaware.

For Michele Pasquale, the bottom line is helping investors to get more out of their properties. Michele is owner and managing member of Meridian Financial Solutions. By working directly with investor clients and through alignment with CPA firms, Meridian seeks to establish effective, long-term tax-planning strategies resulting in greater ROI potential for investors. Michele brings over 16 years of experience in real estate acquisitions and finance to help investors maximize cash-flow. This episode, Michele shares some things investors should know about deferring taxes through cost segregation.

Commercial real estate investors and developers know the term: “Green”. In Florida, it seems that “green” is the phantom criteria for real estate: many have heard of it, few have seen it. The term brings to mind vague notions of sustainability and energy efficiency, but what exactly is it? What is the merit in “going green”? As an effort to shift toward sustainability becomes a rising trend in the nation, Florida continues to lag behind as commercial developers and investors grapple with the nebulous nature of sustainability and green construction.

Sandra Adomatis, SRA, and LEED green associate is an appraiser with a focus on green initiatives and sustainability in real estate. Based out of Punta Gorda, Florida, Sandra has over 25 years of experience in real estate appraisal in the state of Florida. Sandra is a green valuation expert for the Appraisal Institute. Through course development, seminars and literature, Sandra has been helping commercial real estate investors integrate sustainability and energy efficiency into their investments.

Real estate investors in Florida know that the market has seen a steadily increasing return to normalcy since it bottomed out in 2010. Asset classes of all types have been undergoing a resurgence as the market continues to correct itself. With investing outpacing development though, investors are seeing access to viable properties tightening up. Investors need to become more creative when finding deals and stay ahead of new trends arising.

David Beshears, head appraiser and owner of Beshears & Associates, has been appraising properties in Florida for over 20 years and he is very knowledgeable about the self storage market. John Miller, senior appraiser and realtor for Beshears & Associates, specializes in multifamily asset classes, having completed over 200 multifamily appraisals since 2008. This episode, David and John discuss where Florida markets are at, particularly in the multifamily and self storage market.

Beshears & Associates offers a newsletter providing an overview on a variety of asset classes in Florida, including the multifamily and self storage market. To check out their newsletter and to find out about the other services they offer, visit their website at www.beshears.net